Biography Akio Morita (founder of Sony Corp.)

Akio Morita was born on 26 Januari00201921, in the city of Nagoya, from a business family beer sake. Morita to his family brewery business for nearly 400 years in the city of Tokoname, near Nagoya. Under the monitoring of his father, Kyuzaemon, Akio prepared to become the heir to the family business. As a student, Akio companies are often involved in meetings with his father and he helped the family business and even on school holidays.

From an early age, Akio fond of tinkering with electronic equipment. Mathematics and physics are favorite subjects for elementary and junior high and high school. After graduating from High School, he joined the Physics Department at Osaka Imperial University. At the time of graduation from the University, Japan engaged in the Pacific war and Akio joined the Navy in 1944.

When he returned to the family home in Nagoya after the war, when an article about the research lab founded by Ibuka appeared in the Asahi newspaper column called, "Blue Pencil". Morita was invited to join the faculty of the Tokyo Institute of Technology by one of his professors. Morita packed up his things and ready to go to Tokyo. With the end of the war, Ibuka founded Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute to start a new beginning. After reading this article, visit Ibuka Morita in Tokyo and they decided to establish a new company together.

On May 7, 1946 Ibuka and Morita founded Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo KK (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) with approximately 20 employees and an initial capital of 190 000 yen. At that time, Ibuka and Morita was 38 years old 25 years old.

During their long partnership, Ibuka devote his energy to research, technology and product development, while the lead role in Sony's Morita in the fields of marketing, globalization, financial and human resources. Morita also spearheaded the Sony to get into the software business, and he contributed to the overall corporate management.

Encourage companies to expand its business globally visible in the decision to change the company name to Sony in 1958, a decision that was not well received inside or outside of Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo company because it was widely known. For such a view, Morita insisted that it was time to change the company name to make it easier to pronounce and remember, that the company can grow and enhance enterprise competitiveness globally. In addition, Morita reasoned that someday the company will create new products other than electronics and Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo name will no longer be appropriate. Therefore, he changed his name to Sony Corporation and decided to write a 'Sony' in the alphabet katakana (Japanese alphabet normally used to write foreign names), something that has never happened at that time.

In 1960, Sony Corporation of America was founded in the United States. Morita decided to move to the U.S. with his family and lead to create new markets for the company. He believes that Sony must develop their own sales distribution directly, rather than rely on local dealers.

Many products have been launched throughout the history of Sony can be said that it was all thanks to the creativity and innovative ideas from Morita. His ideas gave birth to a lifestyle completely new, and this is clearly visible from products like the Walkman and the video cassette recorder.

Morita also showed his ability to break away from conventional thinking in the financial sector, while Sony took out American Depositary in the United States in 1961. This is the first time that a Japanese company has offered shares in the New York Stock Exchange, and this allows companies to raise capital not only in Japan. Sony opened the way for Japanese companies to raise foreign capital, when the general practice of Japanese management is to borrow funds from banks.

Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo change the name to the Sony show, Morita eager to diversify operations outside of Sony's electronics business. In 1968, software companies entering the music business in Japan by establishing the CBS / Sony Group Inc. in conjunction with CBS, Inc. United States. Then in 1979, Sony entered the financial business in Japan by establishing Sony Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd, a 50-50 joint venture with The Prudential Life Insurance Co. of America. Furthermore, Sony acquired CBS Records Inc. in 1988. The next year, Sony acquired Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc., enables the company to become a comprehensive entertainment companies that have quality software and hardware is excellent.

Apart from Sony, Morita active in building cultural bridges between Japan and overseas as Vice Chairman of Keidanren (Federation of Economic Organizations haunted) and as a member of the Economic Relations Group, the Japan-United States, better known as the "Wise Men's Group". He played an important role in reducing trade friction between Japan and the United States, and through the publication of its products with words like Made In Japan, he became, "one of Japan's most famous people in the U.S."

Morita is the first Japanese person who was awarded the Albert Medal from the United Kingdom's Royal Society of Arts in 1982. In 1984, he received an award from the National Order of the Legion of Honor (Ordre National de la Légion d'honneur), the highest and most prestigious of France, and in 1991, he was awarded the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure from Emperor of Japan. In addition, Morita received numerous awards from countries such as Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States.